Alexa Voice Service (AVS) in 3.15.0

[Domodial]

Hello Bill,

Thank you for this link with the buttons, I notice that Alexa does not understand everything.
She reacts specially. For example the routine to turn on 2 lamps and turn off 2 lamps, works on the Alexa application.

But in HR, to turn on it’s OK, but to turn off I get: Sorry this device cannot perform this command.

I use to test 2 buttons, 1 for On and 1 for Off because I can’t get the On / Off conditions to work as with real devices with status feedback.
So with 2 buttons + having tested on the Alexa application (it reacts well) I cannot look for more.

[bill (Bill Venhaus)]

You need to enter the exact command you would normally speak to Alexa minus the preceding "Alexa, ". The wake word is not needed. If you cannot get the command to work, I recommend you install the official Alexa app on your mobile device. Try using the “Tap or say Alexa” feature at the very top of their app on the Home tab. If what you say in their app works, the command you type in Home Remote should also work.

[Domodial]

I just noticed that if I do questions in English Alexa works, but not in my language. It is independent of HR. This only happens on a certain type of device (Broadlink).

Broadlink indicates that the app is in English only. Maybe there is some meaning with Alexa, I don’t understand, this is the first time I have encountered this. But also Broadlink is new and I had not had the opportunity to try it with Alexa.

EDIT : I just found, English is no accent, and in my language sentence there was no accent on a letter and Alexa absolutely wanted to have one. This was reflected in this manifestation. Everything is working now !

Is there a way to find out what condition the scene was in? When I hit a button and close and open the app, I don’t know if the device is on or off.

[Tarkus (John Lattarulo)]

@cw-kid

Ezlo online api tool

@cw-kid

I am using the 3rd party Vera to Ezlo bridge plugin here.

However its a little tricky to setup, you will need SSH access to your Ezlo Plus via something like Putty. WinScp for uploading your modified .json file and you will also need access to the Ezlo online api tool to work out the ID strings for your rooms, so you can assign the devices to the correct rooms.

Is this plugin just for mapping devices? What if I wanted to just send a http command to the ezlo to invoke a ezlo scene? Is that possible?

[cw-kid]

@Tarkus

just send a http command to the ezlo to invoke a ezlo scene? Is that possible?

Yes it’s possible I’ll ping you on the Vera forum.

[Tarkus (John Lattarulo)]

Yes I came across your guide. Unfortunately VOI doe not work as expected for me. Command that work when I talk to my Google home do not work thru a EZLO Scene. My lights work thru GA commands issued through VOI but not commands that are set up in the home app as routines.

[bill (Bill Venhaus)]

@Domodial

Is there a way to find out what condition the scene was in? When I hit a button and close and open the app, I don’t know if the device is on or off.

There is not. These are commands only. There’s no way to to parse the feedback to determine the actual state of an Alexa device.

[john_wallace]

Hi,

Is it possible to get alexa to say something based on the state of a variable which could trigger a vera scene linked to the alexa? I was thinking I could have a scene set up in vera that will run which is set for alexa to say something. I wish to use it for my Amcrest doorbell. So far I have the RTSP feed showing on the tablet when the doorbell is pressed (and also my NVR to show the camera on the tvs - this would be a nice addition.

John

[bill (Bill Venhaus)]

You can use a Home Remote Scene. Add your variable as a Trigger to the Home Remote Scene. For the Home Remote Scene’s Actions, add a DataAction that invokes your Alexa Scene.

Scenes in 3.10.0

There’s a new Scenes feature in the 3.10.0 release. The same sets of “Actions” that were previously only available to XAML pages can now be created outside of that context in a convenient folder. These scenes can be triggered to run either manually or automatically. 1. Manual You can create buttons or device tiles that execute scenes. Scenes are much like device objects, they can be assigned both a TileTemplate & a DetailsTemplate. In terms of control, they are all automatically given the Sc…

[john_wallace]

Hi Bill,

Thanks - I got it working by setting a normal Event Trigger to trigger the Alexa device upon opening the camera grid I have set up - it works and runs the alexa routine that use a dummy vera scene to allow the voice feedback. It doesnt work on my old ipad though - it is IOS 10.3.3 (latest version for it) so I assume this is too old for the AVS, the hrp loads but screen goes white. I even tried loading a compatibel version of alexa on the ipad to see if it was a device authientication problem but it doesnt work.

John

[gustavofd (Gustavo Farinelli)]

Hi @bill … greetings from Brazil

I´m using AVS to lock/unlock a TTLock app doorlock.
To lock the door, everything is fine…
But to unlock the door, after the first command (unlock the door), alexa asks for the PIN Code to unlock… Is it possible to give the pin code after the first command?

Thanks!!!

[bill (Bill Venhaus)]

You will not be able to do this with the automated “text” voice command. You need to add a button that uses a MethodAction to call App.OpenAlexa which will open the dialog that listens for responses.

[Zeon_Ooi (Zeon)]

Hi Bill, Good Day!

I have the added the alexa voice services in Home designer, and I tested the function on simulator, it work fine, but when it came to the ipad, it show screenshot below. Blank screen on AlexaVoiceService.
When I press < (back button), it goes to the home screen, then the apps will crashed and back to Home screen in ipad 4 ios10.3.3.

Do I miss anything?

[bill (Bill Venhaus)]

Check your internet connection. That white page should eventually show the Amazon login page for you to sign in & authenticate the iPad 4. Sometimes it takes a minute. Shouldn’t take any longer though assuming you have a good internet connection.

[Zeon_Ooi (Zeon)]

Thanks for reply sir.

I can confirmed the internet is working fine and good connection. I tried mobile hotspot, home WiFi. They are looking good. ipad 4 running 10.3.3 is supported right? Any others thing need to be installed?

[bill (Bill Venhaus)]

Yes, 10.3.3 is supported. Try rebooting your iPad if it still isn’t working.

[Zeon_Ooi (Zeon)]

Tested on both ipad 4 10.3.3. Rebooted. Login page still not prompted.
Tested on ipad air 1, 12.5.5, Alexa login page authenticated. when insert a command, it prompted only works requires ios13 & above. It work well on Simulator.

[bill (Bill Venhaus)]

Ok, I’m sorry. You will need iOS 13 or newer to use the Alexa stuff. It is using some functions that are only available on iOS 13.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfaudio/avspeechsynthesizer/3141659-writeutterance

[Zeon_Ooi (Zeon)]

No Worries. I can now safely ignore this feature. Thanks Bill.

[wull (Will)]

Is anyone still using Alexa (AVS) with Home Remote? I have it working in Home Remote Designer on my PC, but it doesn’t work on either my iPhone or iPad. Both devices are running iOS 26.3.1.

When I first load the project, Amazon takes me through the login/password checks, but the Alexa buttons don’t seem to trigger anything afterwards.

Has anyone got AVS working on recent iOS versions?

text
iPad Home Remote fails to execute Alexa commands

Environment:

• iPad: Gen 9
• iOS: 26.3.1
• Home Remote: 4.5.0

What works:
✓ Alexa app on iPad controls lights
✓ PC Home Remote controls lights
✓ Bindings are correct ({Binding LightOn.Scene})
✓ Star prefix (*light on) included

What fails:
✗ iPad Home Remote - buttons do nothing
✗ Toggle switch - no response
✗ Both individual buttons and scenes fail

The iPad can communicate with Amazon (Alexa app works),
but Home Remote cannot send the same commands at runtime.